Hyperventilation Relief: Using a Bag Breathing Technique

Rapid breathing can occur when you experience stress and anxiety. When you breathe rapidly, or hyperventilate, the level of carbon dioxide in your blood decreases. You can restore the proper level of carbon dioxide during an episode of hyperventilation by breathing into a bag. Taking a few breaths into a paper bag traps the outgoing carbon dioxide that you lose when you over breathe and allows you to breathe it back in; that restores your level of carbon dioxide and returns your breathing to normal.

Things You'll Need

• 6-by-4-inch paper bag

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Instructions

• 1

  Squeeze the neck of a paper a bag to create an opening just large enough for your mouth to fit inside.

• 2

  Blow a breath out into the bag so the bag inflates.

• 3

  Inhale slowly, keeping the bag over your mouth. The bag will briefly deflate.

• 4

  Repeat the process of exhaling and inhaling, with the bag over your mouth, six to eight times or until your breathing returns to normal.